A Dazzling Benefaction
In the aftermath of the Bolshevik Revolution, countless objects like this Altar Gospels — held aloft during the liturgy, and therefore intended to be seen by the entire congregation — were stripped of their jewels and metal ornamentation, which were melted down into ingots. This is a rare survivor of the turbulent revolutionary period, the gift to the Library from the New York antiquarian book dealer Gabriel Wells (1862–1946). The hallmarked gilded silver binding includes enamel medallions (drobnitsy) of Christ, dressed in the saccos and mitre of a bishop, and of the Evangelists, surrounded by green stones. In general, the “Latinized” rendering of the binding suggests the influence of western European aesthetics (in this case, French) craftsmen in 18th-century Russia.
Evangelie naprestol’noe [Altar Gospels]. Moscow, 1791.
The New York Public Library, Rare Book Division.
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